April 23, 2021
Encouraging COVID case trends from Worcester to statewide
Photo | Grant Welker
A COVID-19 drive-through vaccination site in Rutland
By Grant Welker
In the same week that all Massachusetts residents 16 and older became eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, new case numbers showed encouraging signs everywhere from the city of Worcester to statewide.
In Worcester County, 1,014 new cases were reported in the most recent seven days through Thursday, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. That's the lowest since the middle of last fall before cases quickly rose to all-time highs. Worcester County now has a total of 74,267 cases.
In the city of Worcester, 313 new weekly cases were reported Thursday, which didn't account for the same significant drop as across Worcester County but was the sixth lowest of any week this year. Worcester now has 23,047 cases.
Massachusetts has also been on a downswing in cases. After four straight weeks of weekly case increases, it now has three weeks of decreases, including 9,926 new cases in the past week through Thursday for a new total of 636,476.
Deaths have generally flattened but remain far below their peaks of last spring. Massachusetts had 81 new deaths reported in the past week for a new total of 17,168. Worcester County now has 2,185 with eight new deaths in the past week, and the city of Worcester reported no new deaths in the past week, staying at 418.
Worcester's two hospital systems, Saint Vincent Hospital and UMass Memorial Health, saw the number of coronavirus patients drop by 23 in the past week to a total of 64, according to the city. The hospitals' number of intensive-care coronavirus patients fell by one to reach 22.
Most promising, vaccination totals continue to rise more quickly. More than 2.1 million Massachusetts residents are fully vaccinated, DPH said Thursday. In Worcester County, 43% of the population has at least one dose and 27% are fully vaccinated.
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